Disgaea 4: Her Gaze
by xxxYin-Yangxxx
Summary: When Valvatorez drank Artina's blood, he expected nothing to change, but everything did and with her every look he was reminded. It was a rather abrupt change that he couldn't help but avoid her. But when she was finally fed up with it, she cornered him. What can a sardine-loving vampire do? One-shot.


**Yo what up. I've started writing this up ever since I had a Disgaea marathon after hearing about Disgaea 5. Finishing it reminded me how I absolutely adored this pairing. Not as much as Adelle and Rozalin though. Those two always makes me feel sad that I'm single. With Killia and Lieze joining the race though, I'm at odds between the Disgaea 2 and Disgaea 5 couples. But I digress.**

 **Without further ado, on with the show.**

 **Disclaimer: Disgaea doesn't belong to me in any way.**

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She was everywhere.

Valvatorez had always assumed that, after she was done with her objectives, she would go back to Celestia where she rightfully belonged. However, she had stayed. And she was _everywhere._

Normally, it wouldn't have phased him the slightest, not even a bit… Okay, maybe a little… Fine! A lot! However, there seemed to be something different in the air that made it feel a bit more overwhelming than it was supposed to. Her glances seemed to be flowing with something he could not identify (or it could be said that he was in denial); her smiles made the room feel warmer than felt comfortable.

It all started the day when she had visited him in his sanctum privately and they had a heart-to-heart. She had apologized for hiding her identity and, in the end, allowed him to bite her. Initially, when she had said that she tasted the depths of despair, he was confused as he hadn't done anything to warrant such a reaction, but her revelation as to how… It still gave him shivers just thinking about it.

Even without her saying anything, her eyes revealed so much of what she felt with so much intensity. It was so magnanimous, so benevolent, and so… loving. It was a different kind of love from what he was used to seeing in her eyes however. From what he could remember when she was still alive, the love she held was for everyone and everything. It was equal, no one was above the other. But this one was directed to only one person, or rather, demon. Him.

He had, of course, in agreement with their promise, bitten her and quenched his long-suffered thirst. But nothing was ever the same after that, in more ways than just his strength returning. It might be because of him, a demon, drinking an angel's blood, which he was sure was forbidden in Hades and in Celestia. The knowledge of it had not helped in the slightest. Whether it was from pride or something else, he didn't seek her out to drink her blood after that.

Since then, it's been a game of cat and mouse between the two of them. The others had noticed the new dynamics and even the newfound strength that he had acquired, or rather, regained. His servant, Fenrich was ever so ecstatic and the two sisters were as well, albeit for different reasons. On a somewhat unrelated topic, he found that his body had not reverted to what it looked like before, but he supposed it didn't matter that much.

Speaking of the two sisters, they had tried their damndest to get him and Artina to be alone if Fenrich disappearing frequently was any indication. He found that he didn't mind at all, and _that_ somewhat scared him; him, a vampire of all demons. And ever since that girl Nagi came back, their attempts seemed to have doubled and Artina was twice as earnest. Who was the unusually earnest now?

He must admit that seeing Nagi once more had made him revisit some old memories, and with them, strong feelings. The time that he and Artina spent in the past, no matter how short, was pleasant and before the whole fiasco with Judge Nemo ever came up, he always unconsciously went back to those days in yearning rather than regret.

"Mr. Vampire? You seem rather deep in thought." Artina's voice came from behind him and he cringed slightly.

"Artina, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He managed to get out, albeit awkwardly. The angel did nothing but giggle as she sat down beside him. Now, how can he escape from this situation?

"Well, I had thought that you were unusually quiet so I thought I should find out what was wrong. Besides," Artina faced him with a serious look, "You've been avoiding me, Mr. Vampire."

He audibly gulped. She had noticed.

"I-I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about Artina." He stammered while looking away.

"Have I done something perhaps?" She had said with a quiver on her voice which made him look back at her. His breath hitched.

There it was again. It was that look once more.

"Believe me Artina, you have done nothing wrong." He stood up slowly and when he stood up to full height, he wobbled a bit.

"Mr. Vampire!" Artina shouted in concern and stood up to try and help him. He held up his hand and waved off her concern.

"It's nothing, I just stood up in haste, is all." He excused himself.

Artina's eyebrows furrowed. "Have you drunk blood ever since you drank mine?" She asked in an unusually ominous voice.

His eyebrows shot up immediately and he protested indignantly, "Of course not! Why would I-" He was cut off by the sudden influx of killing intent emanating from the pink-haired angel.

"Haven't I told you that you already kept your promise?" She asked rhetorically in a whisper.

"Y-yes?" He agreed, unsure what he had done to set off Artina.

"Then why would you let yourself starve again?!" She said with a menacing glare.

He had wanted to refute that he didn't actually starve considering that he hadn't really stopped eating sardines. It was more akin to slight withdrawal symptoms really, but any sort of protest died down on his throat when her glare intensified. He… stepped back to assess the situation. Yeah. He didn't retreat nor did he shrink back. He wasn't afraid of anything… Really.

"Well?" Artina prodded. He found his eyes swimming around the room as he tried to think of a good exc- reason.

"I- I found that once was enough to bring my strength to how it was before so…" He started strongly but when she raised her brow, what he wanted to say died down on his throat once more.

They looked at each other for a while with a tense atmosphere encompassing them. Artina broke her gaze off first with an exasperated sigh before sitting down. She then locked gazes with him again and patted her lap.

Valvatorez's eyes bulged out somewhat . He was baffled by the new development and looked around to see if there was anyone he could use as an excuse to get away.

Artina coughed loudly to get his attention and glared at him once again upon which he had no choice but to do what she was insinuating.

Shakily, Valvatorez sat beside her and slowly laid his head on her lap. When their skins met, his nose was suddenly assaulted by her fragrance. It had always been a pleasant smell to him, not that he'd ever admit it to anyone, but up close, it was straight up tantalizing. He gulped audibly. This was not good. What's more was her skirt was really short, not that he ever noticed.

Damn, his mind was in shambles.

He was brought out of his reverie when he felt her hand run through his hair.

"You know Mr. Vampire, your hair is really soft despite its appearance." Being that he was in contact with her, he could feel every vibration of her voice. It, coupled with her aroma, calmed him down a lot.

"Must be the sardines." He whispered jokingly, but it was still heard.

She giggled softly as she continued her ministrations. It was silent for a while with only the occasional breeze blowing through them. Despite them being in Hades, the atmosphere was strangely romantic more so with them being alone.

Valvatorez's eyes were shut, but he was very much awake. Along the way, Artina started humming and he found himself mesmerized so he let himself be taken away by the sound and made him relax all the way.

Suddenly, he felt a slight pressure appear on his neck. He wasn't able to move out of shock from the sudden action. When the pressure was removed from his neck, his hands immediately went up to where the pressure was and felt bite marks on it. He glanced at the culprit questioningly only to find that she had a teasing but gentle smile. Yet, her face was undoubtedly red. Overall, it made for quite an adorable sight.

"Now we're even right Mr. Vampire?" Artina giggled again, "I know you didn't want to hurt me, but with this it should be fine right?"

That was downright unfair. That was playing dirty.

But… he couldn't find it in him to complain.

Suddenly, a wild thought went through his mind. It was a rather enticing idea. And the gaze she was giving made it even more tempting. However, it was embarrassing as all Hades. He could feel his face heating up just from the very thought of it.

He resolved himself and with a resigned smile said, "You win." His heart threatened to jump out of his chest as he said the next words, "If it's all the same to you, I would like to have a taste of heaven once more." He let out rather teasingly, but it was so painfully embarrassing to say. Thankfully, it had her blushing.

"How smooth of you." She commented with a smile before brushing away some hair from her neck and slowly lowered her head.

Well, no turning back now.

Once she was close enough, Valvatorez gently cupped her cheek and tenderly led it to let their mouths meet. Before he closed his eyes, he was able to see the widening of her eyes. Then, their mouths met.

It was heaven. No, it was more than heaven. Is there even such a thing? Should a demon even want such a thing?

Feeling a bit out of his mind at the moment, he inserted his tongue and to his delight, she responded enthusiastically.

It was more than "more than heaven". To risk being cliché, it lasted for an eternity to him. And it was beyond words.

They both pulled back slightly despite neither of them needing breath. They just stared at each other to revel at what had just happened. Noticing that his hand hadn't left her cheek, he rubbed it lovingly, while looking at her with a happy yet awkward smile. To his pleasant surprise, she looked away in embarrassment, another first that he shared with her.

"That… was sly of you…" She mumbled with an indignant tone before looking at him once more with a rather feverish look on her face. "Valvatorez."

For some reason, just the mere mentioning of his name from her made him even more elated.

"Artina, I-" What he was about to say died in his mouth when a sudden squeal came from nearby. Both his and Artina's eyes drifted towards the source of the sound only to find the other inhabitants regarding them with a huge grin on each of their faces… Except for Fenrich. He had the strangest look of resignation and indignation mixed on his face.

All at once, a wave of embarrassment washed over him and he found himself incapable of movement. He glanced at Artina and saw that she too was red down to her roots.

Then as one, everyone rushed over to them with the twins and Nagi at the forefront, each and every one was saying their congratulations and he couldn't find it in him to refute anything. In defeat, he looked at Artina. And as if sensing his gaze, she returned it, only her gaze told him what he wanted to say to her earlier like it had done all the times before.

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 **A/N: I didn't really proofread this 'cause I couldn't be bothered. I might go back to this if I feel like it along with changing some wordings which I thought were a bit awkward. I might also change the ending a bit since something with it didn't sit right with me.**

 **Anyway, tell me your thoughts, hopefully not in the form of flames.**

 **xxxYin-Yangxxx out.**


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